“This isn’t a war against Islam, and I think that the president’s communicating this message. I think the challenge for the rest of the government is to figure out how to do that on a more comprehensive and continuing basis.”
In other words, Gates is suggesting that, like Obama, the rest of the government, including, of course, his sector — the U.S. defense department — should “on a more comprehensive and continuing basis,” reach out to Muslims, code for be “nice,” “politically correct,” and keep your head buried deep in the sand. The first step — not using accurate terminology — is already in force in the government; why stop there?
“U.S. Outreach to Islamic World Will Pay Dividends, Gates Says,” by John Kruzel for DVIDS, April 8:
WASHINGTON – A comprehensive American outreach effort to the Islamic world will pay dividends, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said yesterday.
Gates, in an interview on the PBS “News Hour with Jim Lehrer,” acknowledged the U.S. government’s attempts to connect with Muslims while communicating its concern over violent extremism has been insufficient so far.
“I gave a speech last year in which I made the comment that how can it be that the nation that discovered public relations is being out-communicated by a guy in a cave?” he said. “The reality is I think we probably have not done as well as we should have in terms of reaching out to Muslims and making clear that what we’re concerned about our violent extremists.”
“Our”? Did he mean “are”? Was this a Freudian slip?
The defense secretary’s comments come on the heels of visits by President Barack Obama to the majority-Muslim countries of Iraq and Turkey.
“This isn’t a war against Islam, and I think that the president’s communicating this message,” Gates said. “I think the challenge for the rest of the government is to figure out how to do that on a more comprehensive and continuing basis.”…